I purchased this book today, at Crossroads Catholic Bookstore in Lafayette, Louisiana; and on our way home (before and after eating dinner at Lagneaux’s; the boiled crabs were excellent), I was able to read the whole book, as it’s only 53 pages. It is quite apropos that I purchased this book today, and read it today, as today is the fiftieth anniversary of the death of 12-year-old Charlene Richard, who is considered by many people in SouthWestCentral Louisiana (including myself) to be a Saint in Heaven, even if the Vatican has not said so as yet.
The book is written by Father Joseph Brennan, who in late July 1959 was a brand new priest (only ordained three months earlier), and who was the junior priest at Our Lady of Fatima in Lafayette, Louisiana, which was the parish that provided pastoral care to patients at Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital. Fr. Brennan was called to aid a family who had been told that their twelve year old daughter had advanced leukemia and had only a few weeks to live. When he walked into the girl’s room, she smiled at him and told him, “My name is Charlene.” He told her the diagnosis, and was amazed at the calmness with which she accepted what was in store for her; and every day for the next two weeks, when he would visit her, she would ask him who she should pray for that day. She died on August 11, 1959, but that is by no means the end of her story. For fifty years, people have been finding their way to St. Edward Church in Richard, Louisiana, to pray at the grave of Charlene Richard, and to ask her help, especially in health matters.
This book tells the story of Charlene and of the help she has given people who call upon her for these fifty years. Included in the book are several stories sent to Father Brennan by those who responded to his request for personal testimonies; and much to my surprise, one of the stories is from me. (I had sent a letter to Fr. Brennan telling him my story in February 2009; he had then called me to thank me, and I told him to contact me if he needed any more information. Evidently what I sent him was quite sufficient.) The book shows how deeply the people of SouthWestCentral Louisiana feel about their Cajun Saint; she is one of our own, and we love her deeply.
May Charlene continue to help those who pray for her aid; and may she become a Saint recognized by the Church, if that is God’s will.
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